The Blow: Chronicle of a Conspiracy

The Battle

March 2025 •Portuguese

21 sequence shots depict moments in a defining night of the Battle of Rua Maria Antônia, in October 1968, from the point of view of the students and professors of the Left-wing Student Movement, in the Philosophy Faculty building of USP.

Bones of Contention

March 2018 •English

A history of the political and social repression carried out by the ruthless regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco between 1936 and 1975 that focuses on the lives of gays and lesbians during those dark years and the death of the Spanish gay poet Federico García Lorca.

Belarus: An Ordinary Dictatorship

March 2018 •French

It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…

1988

November 2023 •Kurdish

In the winter of 1988, in the depths of the Iraq/Iran war, the border town of Halabja was attacked by chemical weapons with all its people and their different stories.

1944. Deportation

May 2019 •Ukrainian

In 1944 Crimean Tatars has suffered a long road in exile. It was accompanied by famine, illness and loss. In the first years of exile, almost half of deported Crimean Tatars died. But those, who survived, dreamed of only one thing - to return to Crimea. The documentary 1944 tells about the tragedy of all Crimean Tatars through several separate life stories. They are cherished by each Crimean Tatar family and must be remembered by all generations to come.

In the Lost City

February 2009 •Spanish

The city of Madrid as it appears in the Spanish films of the 1950s. A small tribute to all those who filmed and portrayed Madrid despite the dictatorship, censorship and the critical situation of industry and society.

Fireflies at El Mozote

Invalid date •English

During the 1980s civil war in El Salvador, a rebel group of leftist guerrillas fight to expose its government's death squads via an underground radio network and hope to end their government's reign of terror with the help of an American journalist.

El oficio de buscar a Inés

July 2022 •Spanish

On the night of July 19, 1977, Inés was traveling by bus when a military patrol detained all the passengers. That morning, almost everyone was released except Inés. Her father began a never-ending search that led him to the very center of Argentina's repressive apparatus. The judicial path and the love of a family that never stops.

Leopoldo Jacinto. Vida de campeón

May 2019 •Spanish

Documentary about the life story of one of Argentina's sports idols. One of the forty-three soccer players who won a World Cup, a fight. Filmed in Mendoza, Santa Fé, Rosario and Buenos Aires.

Kadhafi, la folie d'un dictateur

December 2024 •French

April Captains

April 2000 •Portuguese

Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it.

The Red Chapel

December 2010 •Danish

Two Danish comedians join the director on a trip to North Korea, where they have been allowed access under the pretext of wanting to perform a vaudeville act.

In the Time of the Butterflies

October 2001 •English

Based on the book by Julia Alvarez. Three sisters become activists during the Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime when members of their family are killed by the government's troops.

Fascism in Colour

January 2006 •English

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

Cuba and the Cameraman

September 2017 •English

This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.

Olga

August 2004 •Portuguese

Based upon the true story of Olga Benário, the German-born wife of Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes. During the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) she was arrested and sent to Nazi Germany, where she was put to death in a concentration camp. After World War II began, Vargas decided to uphold the Allies.

The Boys from Brazil: Rise of the Bolsonaros

August 2022 •English

This documentary tells of the extraordinary rise of Jair Bolsonaro, from relative obscurity to the ultimate seat of South American power. Told through intimate interviews with some of those closest to him including his eldest son Flávio, former government ministers, as well as his opponents, explore Bolsonaro’s brilliant yet ruthless journey to the presidency, with high-stakes drama, guns and God.

The Silence of Others

January 2019 •Spanish

The story of the tortuous struggle against the silence of the victims of the dictatorship imposed by General Franco after the victory of the rebel side in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1975). In a democratic country, but still ideologically divided, the survivors seek justice as they organize the so-called “Argentinian lawsuit” and denounce the legally sanctioned pact of oblivion that intends to hide the crimes they were subjects of.

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

October 2010 •Romanian

The three-hour-long documentary covers 25 years in the life of Nicolae Ceaușescu and was made using 1,000 hours of original footage from the National Archives of Romania.

Uncle Saddam

July 2000 •English

Everything you've ever wanted to know about Saddam Hussein (but were afraid to ask).